( 3 reviews )
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Posted: Jun 16 2008
I purchased this air conditioner (WA-1220M) three years ago and I can honestly say that it is the best purchase that I have made. The unit does wonders year-round. I live in an apartment in northern MN, less than a mile from Lake Superior. The summer temperatures do not typically exceed the mid-80's to low 90's, but when you add high humidity, it feels much hotter than the actual temperature. This unit does an AWESOME job at dehumidifying and it also cools my place to a comfortable temperature. It also has fan settings that I use year-round. Unlike a previous rater, I have no problems with the window seal (I even have extra length of the "foam" that they include). The drain for the dehumidifier does use a flexible plastic tube and, while it may not be *ideal*, I find that it works well. (I elevate my unit a couple of inches and have it continuously drain into a large basin that I can then empty). Although this unit is technically a portable unit, it is rather heavy. This is not a problem for me because I do not have to carry it up/down stairs on a regular basis - the wheels help me move it from one location to another if I choose to switch things up, but I typically just keep it in my bedroom and find that it works well. BOTTOM LINE: This product exceeded my expectations. Not only does it cool my apartment, it also dehumidifies amazingly!! It also has a fan that can be used year-round and an air filter that helps clean the air in my apartment.
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Posted: May 30 2008
We have the WA-1220M model of this product (virtually identical). If you stand right in front on it, up to about 5 feet away, it's nice. However, it has several drawbacks: 1. It isn't very good at drying the air; evaporation is needed for effective air-conditioning (whether in your car or your home). 2. It must be drained of the water it does pull from the air, and draining the unit is very cumbersome. It comes with a small flexible plastic tube that has to be connected to the rear bottom of the unit; the other end must be lower in order to drain or the unit really does very little and although there's an indicator light that will come on if the unit is quite full of water, it's very rare that the light comes on (and it only does so LONG after the unit has stopped cooling the air). We have taken to wrapping a large towel around the far end of the tube to collect water that drains, but basically you must tilt the heavy unit backwards to try to drain it. This is not particularly effective but it must be done. 3. It has wheels, but it doesn't roll easily (it's hard to push or pull it in a straight line and the wheels are so small even getting over a low rug is difficult. 4. Moving the unit up or down a single step can be accomplished by one person but since the entire unit is made of very smooth, slippery plastic (it has handles but they're very shallow & not helpful), it's more safely accomplished with two people. 5. Consider that this unit, while mobile, sacrifices a good window seal. The large exhaust hose (which pumps the hot air outside) resembles a telescoping dryer hose that easily falls out of the backside of the unit and is awkward to extend evenly. The unit comes with a smallish piece of foam with a cutout hole for the hose. However, you are left with having to find some way to block the rest of whatever window you choose to put the hole into. We use a large carboard box panel and cut a hole out of, then duct-tape the box into the window opening to block out air seepage. As you can imagine, it looks pretty tacky. We wouldn't buy this again.
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( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 14 2007
This company makes products that are useless. Unfortunately I did not read the other reviews before purchasing from them but now am experiencing first hand there shoddy workmanship, if you could even give them that. Used it for two days and worked ok, now just blows hot air. now I have to deal with all the hassle of returning, which I can probably only exchange it for another lemon. These products are a waste of money and given all the other negative feedback, this company should be reported to the better business bureau if they haven't already
